Nataley Davis | staff writer

As the semester comes to an end, 30 new clubs and student organizations have begun to prepare for meetings next semester after their approval by the Student Government Association on Nov. 19.

The approval marks the end of a long process that each new club must go through.

Founders of new student organizations must submit a constitution outlining their group’s purpose to the assistant vice president for student involvement, Adam Wasilko. Then, Wasilko will either approve the constitution to be reviewed by the Student Government Association or call for revisions.

Students are also required to present a roster of at least 10 people before becoming an official organization.

Landon Ritter, president of a new men’s volleyball club, said that he put together a team for next semester by simply asking around to gauge interest.

“I played a lot of volleyball with my friends over the summer, and I thought it’d be here, but there wasn’t [a club] yet, so I decided to make it,” Ritter said. “[I] just kept asking people if they wanted to join.”

After their approval, student organizations must complete a training session, which began on Tuesday in the student union.

Alaina Baker, a graduate assistant in the Center for Student Involvement, led the meeting.

Baker said that it’s important to guide the new presidents to success by preparing them before their organizations are up and running and continuing to assist them after.

“We help to get them on board with how to reserve rooms, create events… how to retain members,” she said. “Whenever they’re actually started, we help them to plan their events and go through all the different hurdles that they have to jump through.”

The meeting outlined various topics, including monthly president’s meetings, how to use the Campuslink database and requesting funding.

Students were also informed about new opportunities they have available as organization presidents.

Presidents have options to improve their group’s visibility including “Adopt A Night,” where they can rent out the Union NiteSpot for an event and receive $200 toward their organization.

The attendees were also given helpful tips on having a successful organization including training all executive board members on their expected duties, keeping budget records accurate and attending every president’s meeting to stay informed.

Tori Davis, president of the newly approved National Society of Black Engineers, said that she is excited to get started because of the inspiration from chapters of the organization on other campuses.

She collaborated with the University of Pittsburgh’s group to learn more about how to start a chapter and once she had a 10-person roster, it was approved.

Davis said that having the chapter will hopefully provide both networking opportunities for people in the field and enjoyment by connecting with like-minded students.

“It makes [Duquesne] a more inclusive space for people of color in their field on campus to have a safe space with each other and be able to network with each other for future purposes,” Davis said. “You’re here for four years, so you might as well enjoy it.”

Nataley Davis can be reached at davisn5@duq.edu